Julie's Review: Written in Fire

Author: Marcus Sakey
Series: The Brilliance Trilogy #3
Publication Date: January 12, 2016
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Pages: 345
Obtained: Amazon Vine
Genre:  Science Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Epic Ending
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Summary: For thirty years humanity struggled to cope with the brilliants, the one percent of people born with remarkable gifts. For thirty years we tried to avoid a devastating civil war. We failed. The White House is a smoking ruin. Madison Square Garden is an internment camp. In Wyoming, an armed militia of thousands marches toward a final, apocalyptic battle. Nick Cooper has spent his life fighting for his children and his country. Now, as the world staggers on the edge of ruin, he must risk everything he loves to face his oldest enemy—a brilliant terrorist so driven by his ideals that he will sacrifice humanity’s future to achieve them ~amazon.com  

Review: Written in Fire is the conclusion to Marcus Sakey's wonderful, thought-provoking The Brilliance Trilogy. Not only is it the titular battle between good and evil it will also decide how the future will look. We come back to the point in the story where events have happened that caused an even greater divide between the abnorms and the norms. We are very close to having a civil war with no turning back. This is where Nick Cooper comes in. For years he was a DAR agent until he decided that he needed to work on his own. This battle is personal for him as he and his daughter Kate are both abnorms.

Nick is still on his quest to defeat John Smith who is bent on destroying how the world works and not for the better. He has his own agenda and doesn't give a damn who gets hurt while standing in his way. Nick feels that there's a better, more meaningful way to accomplish change than to destroy everything.

There are twists and turns throughout the book but never once did I think that Nick wouldn't be successful in his defeat of John Smith. Obviously, nothing is as easy as it would seem and there are hiccups along that way that couldn't or maybe should have been foreseen.

What this series has highlighted for me is that as humans we will always, unfortunately, find people to be prejudice against. We always have to find a group of people to try to rally against. The Brilliance Trilogy has made me stop and think about how we treat each other and how we can control events that go on around us. We do have control of our future and we should use that for good, for change.

This series was definitely out of my usual genre and while I would consider it dystopian, it is much more hopeful than others in that subgenre. I am happy that I got out of my comfort zone to read this series and I encourage you to do the same.

Previous Book Review:
Brilliance
A Better World

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Julie's Review: Armada

Author: Ernest Cline
Series: None
Publication Date: July 14, 2015
Publisher: Random House Audio
Length: 11 Hours and 58 Minutes
Narrator: Wil Wheaton
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Science Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Alien invasion with a sense of humor
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Library

Summary: It's just another day of high school for Zack Lightman. He's daydreaming through another boring math class, with just one more month to go until graduation and freedom - if he can make it that long without getting suspended again.
Then he glances out his classroom window and spots the flying saucer.
At first Zack thinks he's going crazy. A minute later he's sure of it. Because the UFO he's staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada - in which gamers just happen to be protecting the Earth from alien invaders. But what Zack's seeing is all too real. And his skills - as well as those of millions of gamers across the world - are going to be needed to save the Earth from what's about to befall it.Yet even as he and his new comrades scramble to prepare for the alien onslaught, Zack can't help thinking of all the science-fiction books, TV shows, and movies he grew up reading and watching and wonder: Doesn't something about this scenario seem a little too...familiar? Armada is at once a rollicking, surprising thriller, a classic coming-of-age adventure, and an alien-invasion tale like nothing you've ever heard before - one whose every minute is infused with author Ernest Cline's trademark pop-culture savvy. ~amazon.com

Review: Armada isn't really my cup of tea and pretty much the only reason I used an Audible credit for it was 2 words: Wil Wheaton. You see, he narrated Ready, Player One and I just love the sound of his voice and how he creates the voices of the characters. While this is a science fiction book it has a heavy dose of humor and pop culture. It is evident to me that Mr. Cline is a huge gamer.

Zach Lightman is a 18 year old who isn't quite sure what he's going to do with his life after graduation. He just wants to work at his part time job and continue playing his favorite video game Armada. This life contemplation doesn't last long because what happens next is straight out of a sci-fi movie. He's quickly recruited into an elite group that is fighting an alien invasion that is imminent.

What I really love about Mr. Cline's novels is how you immediately connect to the main character. Even if you don't understand the gaming world or frankly care about alien invasions, you will like Zach and his sense of humor. Mr. Cline also doesn't go geeky sci-fi on you either. He talks enough of the language for those who do like to geek out but not too much that you get lost.

What is an important in both of his books is relationship: family, friends and romantic. He makes it clear that humans wouldn't be human if we didn't establish and maintain those that sets us apart. There is so much good in this book that it does make you believe in the good in us humans.

Let's talk about Wil Wheaton's narration skills for a bit. He's simply fantastic. I could listen to him narrate almost every book I listen to. He does an excellent job of distinguishing his voice for all of the characters and in an non-irritating way.

While I might not have liked this one as much as Ready, Player One, I still thought that was a lot to think about.



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Julie's Review: A Better World

Author: Marcus Sakey
Series: Brilliance Saga #2
Publication Date: June 17, 2014
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Pages: 390
Obtained: Amazon Vine
Genre:  Dystopian, Science Fiction
Rating: 4.5/5
Bottom Line: Much love for this series that is out of my normal genres
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab!

Summary: The brilliants changed everything. Since 1980, 1% of the world has been born with gifts we’d only dreamed of. The ability to sense a person’s most intimate secrets, or predict the stock market, or move virtually unseen. For thirty years the world has struggled with a growing divide between the exceptional...and the rest of us. Now a terrorist network led by brilliants has crippled three cities. Supermarket shelves stand empty. 911 calls go unanswered. Fanatics are burning people alive. Nick Cooper has always fought to make the world better for his children. As both a brilliant and an advisor to the president of the United States, he’s against everything the terrorists represent. But as America slides toward a devastating civil war, Cooper is forced to play a game he dares not lose—because his opponents have their own vision of a better world. And to reach it, they’re willing to burn this one down. ~amazon.com

Review: Some people are power hungry and will do anything to ensure that they way they see things comes to fruition. Unfortunately in A Better World, these people work in influential positions. We continue with the story presented in the first book Brilliance and a lot of the players are the same with some new ones. Nick Cooper is the hero of the series. He's a brilliant who used to work for DAR before it was dismantled. Out of work or on leave, he is approached by the new President of the United States to serve in an advisory category.

While this is just as action filled as the first one, it is not without a lot of thinking. I often paused to think about what was being said and what that said about humanity. What does is say about us that we are willing to go to war, to fight because people have extraordinary abilities and some don't? It says to me that we will find something to disagree with, something to not like about someone and focus on the differences, instead of the similarities.

Mr. Sakey has intricately woven a story that is plausible if not totally probable. The characters are relatable and you root for them. You want Nick to succeed. You want him to be the hero he is desperate to be. Not only to his kids but for the rest of the citizens of the U.S. You want him to figure out the pieces of the puzzle and to put it all together in time.

What I love about this series is that it could happen. It's not so futuristic that you don't believe it. It is also very scary. It is scary how far people are willing to go to show how right they are. How they are power hungry. How they can't see straight because of their own mission. It is worry-some.

If you haven't picked up Marcus Sakey's Brilliance Saga, then you are missing out. These books have something for everyone. Believe me, these are not my usual reads and I can't wait for the next one to come out.


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Alice's Review: The Here and Now

Author: Ann Brashares
Series: Yes?
Publication Date: April 8, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 288
Obtained: Publisher via NetGalley
Genre:  Young Adult, Science Fiction
Rating: 4
Bottom Line: A reluctant hero's journey.
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Just get it at the library

Summary:  Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.  This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins.   Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth.   But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves.  ~blurb

Review:  A bit of time has passed since I finished this novel and started the review. I’ll start off by saying I think this novel is flawed however, I really enjoyed it. I liked Prenna, our main character. I like the time travel storyline. I liked that it was set in New York. I liked that the time travelers are woven among us, living secretly out in the open. That is the good.

And now for the bad. I thought the timeline of the novel was a little wonky. In one scene they have two days to save the world, in another they had enough time to go to Jones Beach one day and the Jersey Shore the next. Then after the Jersey Shore adventure, they are rushing back to North Jersey to accomplish their mission. It didn’t make sense. I hate when things don’t make sense. And a mosquito-borne illness? Seriously? I have a hard time believing there aren’t any vaccinations against this disease or ways to terminate mosquitoes in general. This future truly sucks. I won’t even get into how far-fetched the story line is or how anti hero Prenna is. It’s amazing she’s lived as long as she did, let alone long enough to impact the world.

Even with all this, here I am telling you how much I enjoyed it and I really did. It was interesting, a page turner, and unexpected. I believe in the concept of the novel, however I hope Ms. Brashares takes more time with the next one to smooth out some of the rougher edges. The more I think about this novel, the more I’m questioning my own judgement on giving it such a high marking. The truth is I enjoyed it, even with all the plot holes and inconsistencies. I’m looking forward to the next one in this series.

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Julie's Review: Ready Player One

Author: Ernest Cline
Series: None
Publication Date:August 31, 2011
Publisher: Findaway World/Random House
Narrator: Wil Wheaton
Length: 15 hours and 46 minutes
Obtained: Audible;Mine
Genre:  Science Fiction, Fantasy
Rating: 5
Bottom Line: Any child of the 80s will want to listen or read this! Fantastic!!
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab!

Summary: At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, Ready Player One is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut — part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed. It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune — and remarkable power — to whoever can unlock them. For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved—that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig. And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle. Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt — among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life — and love — in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape. A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready? ~powells.com

Review: I don't do Sci-Fi. I just don't. I think my dad scarred me with making me watch the tv show Star Trek and the subsequent movies. So when Michelle suggested Ready Player One, I agreed with some hesitation. I will say this, it isn't so Sci-Fi that it's not a plausible future, because it is. What sold me though was the 80s reference. Dear lord there was a perpetual smile on my face from this book. Mr. Cline has certainly written a book that will appeal to a wide variety of people. I felt that Mr. Cline did a fantastic job of including politics in the book without it hitting you over the head with it. There's adventure, action, romance packed into this gem of a book.

Wade is a fantastic character. He's the definition of an every man. You identify with his struggles, his hopes and his pursuit. His life sucks so badly outside of the Oasis that he creates the life he wants inside of a virtual world. The hunt for the "Easter Egg" is a glorified scavenger hunt that makes people crazy and greedy. I mean it is a ton of money but money does weird things to people. I would even consider Wade a bit of a savant. Seriously who remembers dialogue of a lot of movies in a variety of genres? I guess if that's all you do, then maybe you do have brain capacity for it. It is his memory and how he puts together the pieces of the puzzle that shoot him to the top of the gamers scoreboard. And that's where I'll leave it because saying anymore would ruin it for you. I will say this about all the other characters in the book, the geeks shall inherit the earth is so true. This is a great group of people who find solace in a virtual reality but have real connections with each other. And that's where I'll leave it because saying anymore would ruin it for you.

And really, you should listen Ready Player One. You may ask, why not just read it? Well you could but then you would miss Wil Wheaton as the narrator. Wil Wheaton was made for this book. His inflection, his voice, his characterization were spot on. Good god, I think I have a voice crush on him now. I mean I've been a fan of Wil Wheaton since his Stand By Me days and of course the times he was on The Big Bang Theory but I wouldn't have guessed him to be such a fantastic narrator.

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Jenn's Review: Exposure

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Author: Kathy Reichs and Brendan Reichs
Series: Virals #4
Publication Date: March 4, 2014
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Pages: 418
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  mystery
Rating: 4.75
Bottom Line: another fantastic adventure
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab!

Blurb: When twin classmates are abducted from Bolton Prep, Tory and the Virals decide there’s no one better equipped than them to investigate. But the gang has other problems to face. Their powers are growing wilder, and becoming harder to control. Chance Claybourne is investigating the disastrous medical experiment that twisted their DNA. The bonds that unite them are weakening, threatening the future of the pack itself.

The Virals must decipher the clues and track down a ruthless criminal before he strikes again, all while protecting their secret from prying eyes. And everyone seems to be watching.

Review:  This is one of those YA series that I always make time for... and since things were left rather precariously between the Virals at the end of Code, I couldn't help but pick it up as soon as it was released.

I was rather surprised to find that Exposure begins with a trial. The aftermath and legal fallout is something that often gets glossed over in novels, especially YA. It was a fantastic place to start though, as there are definite consequences from their last escapades and it really set the tone and the pace for what is to follow.

Getting beyond the trial, I must admit that I was a little disappointed with the storyline. It seemed uncharacteristically predictable; I had it all figured out and knew where everything was headed... or I thought I did. By now I should know that things are never what they seem in a Virals novel. I wasn't right on a single point --not one-- and I love when that happens. I was completely blown away.

As pack leader, Tory is growing more aware of the problems with their condition, making her more determined than ever to delve into the research.  Her inability to let go of her hurt and move on is complicating things, but she is attempting to rise above it.  However as concientious as she is when it comes to the health of her pack, Tory is equally reckless when it comes to plunging into investigations and jumping to conclusions.  Tory pushing the boundaries as a pack leader seems to be a reactionary reflex to everything that has led up to this point.  The pack is off balance, and the harder she tries to right it, the more off kilter it becomes. I have to remind myself that she's a teenage girl and even the most responsible of which can be impulsive and short sighted.

On top of everything else, Chance is getting more desperate to learn the Virals secret. In his slightly unhinged state, how far will he go?  We have witnessed his darker side before... 

I won't delve into the story anymore than I already have so as not to spoil things.  This is one of those series that I can't recommend strongly enough.  I feel close to these kids and I always feel like my time with them is too short.  I may just have to go back and re-read them while I wait for the next installment.

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Julie's Review: Virals

Summary: Tory Brennan, niece of acclaimed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones novels and hit TV show), is the leader of a ragtag band of teenage "sci-philes" who live on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina. When the group rescues a dog caged for medical testing on a nearby island, they are exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus that changes their lives forever. As the friends discover their heightened senses and animal-quick reflexes, they must combine their scientific curiosity with their newfound physical gifts to solve a cold-case murder that has suddenly become very hot-if they can stay alive long enough to catch the killer's scent. Fortunately, they are now more than friends: They are a pack. They are Virals. ~powells.com

Review:  I don't read Sci-Fi or YA, so why would Virals? Kathy Reichs wrote it. Also, Jenn suggested it for my YA challenge this year. Being a fan of her Temperance Brennan series I knew that she would tone down the science in this but not dumb it down. Immediately I liked Tory. She's a bright 14 year old girl, who has some sass but isn't obnoxious. And while being smart and a bit nerdy, she's not awkward. What came to mind for me after finishing the novel, is that she's a modern day Nancy Drew. She gets herself in situations where I know I couldn't get out of and yet she does so with using her smarts.

Tory recently transplanted to South Carolina after her mother's death to live with a father who didn't know she even existed. This is how Tory is related to Tempe, she's her great-aunt, which is fantastic for Tory who already idolized her. Tory is a huge dog lover and when she discovers that one of the wolf dog pups is caged up on Loggerhead Island, she decides to free him and take him with her. This is where the one rash decision leads to many outcomes.

Tory and her band of brothers seem to stumble into trouble at every turn. Now it's not your typical teen trouble but maybe that kind of trouble might be easier to deal with.

While I might not think it's realistic, I let it go and just enjoyed the story. Ms. Reichs does a fantastic job of creating teen characters that aren't cartoonish. She does an excellent job of having two plots that end up melding together perfectly in the end. There were a couple twists that I didn't see coming and thoroughly enjoyed that I didn't.

For me, while I found the mysteries interesting, I really liked the dynamic between Tory, Hi, Ben and Shelton. I like that Tory is comfortable enough with herself to hang out with a bunch of guys and be at ease with them. They are her pack.

I will definitely continue with the series (Seizure & Code) since there is only a total of 3 right now. I also recommend them to my 12 year old sister and will be passing it on to a 13 year old boy as well.

Final Take: 4/5

Jenn's Review


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Jenn's Review: Code

 Blurb:  The Virals are put to the ultimate test when they find a geocache containing an ornate puzzle box. Shelton decodes the cipher inside, only to find more tantalizing clues left by "The Gamemaster." A second, greater geocache is within reach—if the Virals are up to the challenge.

But the hunt takes a dark turn when Tory locates the other box—a fake bomb, along with a sinister proposal from The Gamemaster. Now, the real game has begun: another bomb is out there—a real one—and the clock is ticking.

Review:  It's been a while since I visited with the Virals on Loggerhead Island. Code has been sitting on my shelf for far too long. Things were pretty neatly wrapped up at the end of Seizure, so it was interesting to see where things were headed.

Code was a return to everything I loved about the first book in the series, Virals.  I enjoyed Seizure, but I couldn't help feeling it was a little wild as plot lines go, even for a pack of genetically altered super hero kids. Code starts off on a whimsical jaunt and pulls you in to something dark and twisted so fast you aren't even sure how it happened.  Once into it, it was very hard to put down.

The mystery is killer and I must admit, I fell for the red herring in the book.  I love when I don't know the whodunnit of it all, and this one really threw me for a loop.  It was fast paced and thrilling.  I was shocked by the ending and a little disappointed in a few of the characters whom I've really grown to love over the series.  There were times when I wanted to shake them; I still feel like shaking some of them. (Tell tale sign that I love the book, when I'm talking about the characters like they're real.)

What I love about this series is that it's YA thrillers with some sci-fi on the side.  It's not too heavy, it's not gender specific, it's full of solid characters and fascinating mysteries.   I'd say Code is my favorite so far ~and there is an open ended little tag on the end of this book so I can't wait to see where the Virals are headed next.

Final Take:  4.75/5


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Jenn's Review: The Time Travelers (Gideon the Cutpurse)

 Summary:  1763. Gideon Seymour, cutpurse and gentleman, hides from the villainous Tar Man. Suddenly the sky peels away like fabric and from the gaping hole fall two curious-looking children. Peter Schock and Kate Dyer have fallen straight from the twenty-first century, thanks to an experiment with an antigravity machine. Before Gideon and the children have a chance to gather their wits, the Tar Man takes off with the machine -- and Kate and Peter's only chance of getting home. Soon Gideon, Kate, and Peter are swept into a journey through eighteenth-century London and form a bond that, they hope, will stand strong in the face of unfathomable treachery.

Review:  The cover proffers The Time Travelers as being for fans of Harry Potter and I'm not sure I quit agree. While I found it an enjoyable read, I'd say it was for a younger crowd which is why I'm placing it in this week's Children's Corner.

Linda Buckley-Archer writes accessible prose which can be difficult when dealing with time travel.  She doesn't over simplify things and even though she jumps back and forth from the past to the present. She always makes the time jumps clear starting with a character name.   Also, the children are young so there is no teen angst with which to deal.  I love that her chapter titles give descriptions of what is to come. It reminds me of some of my favorite Diana Wynne Jones novels.  It makes it somewhat like a chapter book and I think that it makes for a fun way for parents and children to read together, imagining what might come next. 

Peter and Kate have only just met and now they have accidentally fallen into 1763. They have to learn to trust and depend on each other. Whatever they may have learned about the 18th century in school, nothing quite prepares them to live in it.  They meet colorful and dangerous people in the past and they must work together to get back to the present.  Though they decide to keep their predicament a secret, they tell many people along the way and the amazing thing is the number of adults that believe them. I'd say that was the only part of the story that really bothered me in its simplification. 

I think this is the start of a great trilogy for the imaginative child mystery, history, and sci-fi all rolled into one adventure.  I will be reading this with my daughter ...when she gets a little older.

 

Jenn's Review: Seizure

 Summary:  Ever since Tory Brennan and her friends rescued Cooper, a kidnapped wolf pup with a rare strain of canine parvovirus, they've turned from regular kids into a crime-solving pack. But now the very place that brought them together - the Loggerhead Island Research Institute - is out of funding and will have to shut down. That is, unless the Virals can figure out a way to save it.

So when Tory learns of an old Charleston legend about a famous she-pirate, Anne Bonney, whose fortune was never found, she can't believe her luck - buried treasure is exactly what she needs to save the Institute on Loggerhead! Trouble is, she and her friends aren't the only ones looking for it. And this time, the Virals' special powers may not be enough to dig them out of trouble . . .  ~blurb


Review:  I love Kathy Reichs novels and I love paranormal YA, so the two things together?  Total no brainer.  Seizure is the second book in Reichs' new Virals series, and while the first one is my favorite, I also enjoyed Seizure.

Many of the reviews for Virals compared it to a modern day Nancy Drew (even I made the comparison (my review)), I think the similarities are far more prevalent here, from the cover to the topic to the plot formula. Not that that is a bad thing, (think of how many lives that series touched!) but it's a good starting point of comparison. Really, it's Goonies meets Nancy Drew with a sci-if twist. It definitely had an old school feel to it with good dose of Kathy Reichs typical quick wit. There are no huge plot twists in this one and even though searching for pirate treasure sounds a little hokey, it was still an entertaining, fast-paced read. At times I was frustrated when pockets of plot exposition slowed things down a little, but the Virals are so smart it's easy to forget they're kids in their early teens... and so is the target audience. With that in mind however, as a Mom I was concerned because Tory was far more reckless in this book. I understand her desperation, but she took some crazy risks, completely disobeyed her father, and broke several laws. While Shelton came off as whiney kill-joy at times, he really was the voice of reason that all the Virals ignored. At the same time I appreciate the fact that without Tory's aggressive impulsiveness, there would have been no story. Were they able to solve things a little too easily and was the tale a little tall? Sure, but it was done beautifully. I also appreciated the brief but relevant Temperance Brennan cameo.


As I mentioned when reviewing Virals, I think this story works for male or female readers (a theory I intend to test on Kids Just Reading soon) even though it's told from Tory's point of view. It helps too that there is no heavy romance foisted on these early teens. I love the concept of this series and I can't wait to see where Reichs and her son Brendan take this. They've made sure to start Tory off young so the series can age with her, which is good. Their isn't anything else out quite like Virals and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

Final Take:  4/5

Alice's Review: Ros

Summary:  When a plane crashed behind Micki Cramer's house, in San Diego, California, she kept waiting for the sirens and rescue team to show up. As the first responder, it was up to her to tug on the arm that was waving out of the broken wreckage. Holding her breath against the choking smoke, she managed to get the pilot out and carry him to safety into her backyard. He wasn't that heavy; he was about the size of her 10-year-old nephew, who did play a lot of video games and ate nothing but Flamin' Hot Cheetos, but still. As it turns out, he wasn't a guy after all.  Ros, the pilot, was on a mission to find her missing brother who had crash-landed at Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. Seems she was a bad driver, too, missing her target by nearly a thousand miles and more than half a century.  If Ros can teach Micki how to use eleven percent of her brain, how can Micki help Ros?

Review:  Aliens?  Really?  Aliens aren’t my thing.  Had I read the summary a little closer and used my rusty powers of deduction, I would have realized this and passed on this read.   If I had, it would have taken me a lot longer to discover Dee DeTarsio.   Although this wasn’t what I expected, I really enjoyed reading Ros. 

Ms. DeTarsio used the classic formula that has made Janet Evanovich’s Plum series so wildly successful.  Although not very original, it is very funny.  This novel centers on Ros but the real star for me is Micki, our protagonist extraordinaire.  She handled everything with a sense of humor, kookiness, and blind courage.  With every mishap, I laughed harder.  I love that she competes at yoga, thinks about sex and food at the most inappropriate times, and puts her life on the line for someone out of this world. She’s pretty great. 

Ms. DeTarsio is a natural storyteller.  It was very easy to get wrapped up this adventure.  I read this on Kindle and there were times I was so engrossed I would forget it was an eBook.  I would actually try to manually flip the pages.  Ms. DeTarsio is a sneaky one too.  She’d throw in little nuggets when I least expected it.  My favorite was when Rhoda says, “Life is 75 percent maintenance.”  So true.  It’s the other 25 percent that counts.  And I’m glad I used part of my 25 percent on Ros.

Final Take: 4/5

Jenn's Review: Ultraviolet

Summary:  "Once upon a time there was a girl who was special. This is not her story. Unless you count the part where I killed her."

Sixteen-year-old Alison wakes up in a mental institution. As she pieces her memory back together, she realizes she's confessed to murdering Tori Beaugrand, the most perfect girl at school. But the case is a mystery. Tori's body has not been found, and Alison can't explain what happened. One minute she was fighting with Tori. The next moment Tori disintegrated—into nothing.

But that's impossible. No one is capable of making someone vanish. Right? Alison must be losing her mind—like her mother always feared she would.

For years Alison has tried to keep her weird sensory abilities a secret. No one ever understood—until a mysterious visiting scientist takes an interest in Alison's case. Suddenly, Alison discovers that the world is wrong about her—and that she's capable of far more than anyone else would believe.

Review:  Completely hooked in the first three sentences?  I know I was.  Due out in the US in the fall of 2011, Ultraviolet was a novel I received from the publisher, Carolrhoda Books,  through Net Galley.  This is one you want to have on your shelf.  While one isn't supposed to comment about errors in an uncorrected proof, I have to mention that the formatting of this galley was terrible (an honest glitch I'm sure), but it was such an amazing read that I was completely willing to suffer through it.  Yes, it was that good.


This is a fascinating look at the psyche of a teen who has grown up knowing she was different then the rest of the world.  When her arch nemesis goes missing after a fight between them, Alison is sure that somehow her unnaturalness has disintegrated her. I knew what Allison's condition was before she and her doctors figured it out, but it was certainly easy to see how it could be missed.  (It made me wonder how often this kind of thing is missed in adolescent psychiatry.) I can't imagine being a teen in a Psychiatric Ward.  Being a teenager is hard enough without having someone prodding around your life and probing your motivations and feelings all the time.  Alison's journey is tumultuous as she learns more about the system of which she is a prisoner, her abilities, and herself.


Ms. Anderson's writing reminded me a lot of Madeleine L'Engle for a more mature audience.  Her story telling is captivating and so are her characters.  It is fascinating viewing the world through Alison's perspective and even more interesting as her perception of herself and others begins to change.  It's startling, but refreshing to see Alison realize how other's perceive her and how being so concerned about her differences has isolated her in ways she never knew. I also love the fact that the story is set in Ontario and that Ms. Anderson doesn't feel the need to apologize for it by explaining things to bits.  Although Ms. Anderson took the ending in a different direction than I would have preferred, it was well done and nothing I hold against her or her work.  


This is not RJ Anderson's first work and now that I've discovered her, I am putting the YA fantasy series she has written, Faery Rebel, on my ever growing TBR wishlist.  Ultraviolet is set to come out in September, and if you love YA, I highly recommend you put it on your wishlist as well!

Final Take:  4.5/5